Man hurled wine glass at former Pop Idol contestant

A drunken man who hurled a wine glass at a former Pop Idol contestant as he sang onstage has been jailed for 17 months.

Sean McDermott, 28, of Chatsworth Avenue, Fleetwood, left singer Chris Tame bleeding profusely after striking him while he was singing at Ma Kelly’s in London Street, Fleetwood, on June 3.

Chris Tame

The dad-of-two admitted unlawfully wounding the vocalist, alleging he made remarks about him over the microphone.

But today Mr Tame, from North Yorkshire, who was singing Shut Up and Dance at the time, said: “I never said a word to him, I was joking with two girls who were leaving the dancefloor and trying to get them back up.

“The next minute he came running towards me and hurled the wine at me, hitting me with the glass.

“I have been singing for 18 years and have never been attacked. As performers we deliberately avoid people who are drunk or arguing for obvious reasons.

Oh look, she’s moving away

“I want to stress the venue was not at fault at all as some singers are now avoiding it which is unfair - it couldn’t have been predicted and the security wasn’t at fault. There was only around eight people in at the time.”

“He accepts he had been drinking. The two of them had got into a bit of an argument.

“At the moment she moved away from him, the singer was taunting the defendant saying things about their argument publicly over the microphone.”

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “The complainant was a singer who was on stage at the time and he appears to have mad a comment to which you took exception.

“You threw the contents of the wine glass at him, it’s not clear whether you threw the glass or had it in your hand when you punched him but he suffered three small lacerations to his ear, which bled profusely.

“You followed up the initial motion with two or three punches and others intervened to separate you.”

Mr Tame made it to the televised stages of the first series of Pop Idol 14 years ago, competing alongside Rik Waller.